The Trademark Sunrise for the reserved one (1) and two (2) letter domain names for co.uk, .me.uk .org.uk will begin on Wednesday, 1 December 2010 and continues until 17 January 2011. Applications during the Sunrise are being processed by Nominet, the UK registry.

This is an opportunity for UK trademark holders to secure highly memorable short domain names that match their trademarks. For example, AA.co.uk, A.org.uk and 4.me.uk are possible if your trademark exactly matches the domain name. The trademark for all registration requests during the Sunrise period will be validated by the registry’s validation agent, an independent IP law firm.

Stage 1
Trademark rights holders have until midday (GMT) on 17 January 2011 to apply for a domain that matches their trademark via a Nominet registrar.

Stage 2
Applicants will have their IP rights checked by CMS Cameron McKenna, the validation agent Nominet will be using for this process. Applicants will need to provide evidence of using the trademark in the UK prior to 1 January 2008. The deadline for applying to CMS Cameron McKenna to have IP rights validated is midday (GMT) on 31 January 2011.

Multiple applications: At each stage, where there are two or more qualifying applicants for a domain name, an open auction process will be used to decide the successful applicant, with any profits going to Nominet Trust.

The Sunrise registration fee for reserved short domains is $300 for 2 years. This includes the Nic fees of $100 if successful. If unsuccessful in registering the domain, the Nic fee will be refunded. If you have any questions regarding the .UK Registered Rights Sunrise process, please contact your Safenames account manager.

If you are not a registered trade mark holder who meets these criteria you cannot apply at this stage. You will need to apply either in the subsequent Unregistered Rights Sunrise phase or the landrush phase.